Driverless lorry convoys to be trialled in the UK

DfT reportedly planning "HGV platoon" trial of up to 10 driverless trucks on the M6.

Convoys of automated lorries will be trialled on UK motorways, chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce in his 2016 Budget speech later this month.

The Times reports that the trials will take place on a northerly stretch of the M6, which runs from Birmingham all the way up to the border of Scotland, near Carlisle. The Department for Transport confirms that planning for "HGV platoons" is under way, though it did not comment on whether the trials will receive funding in the Budget, nor give any kind of timeline for the fleet's deployment.

A DfT spokesman said: "We are planning trials of HGV platoons—which enable vehicles to move in a group so they use less fuel—and will be in a position to say more in due course." The Times reports that these platoons could consist of up to 10 driverless lorries, each just a few metres away from each other.

Further Reading

The DfT's "less fuel" claim refers to "drafting," where the first lorry in the platoon creates a slipstream, significantly reducing drag and fuel consumption for the other lorries behind it. In a semi-automated lorry demo a couple of years ago, the fuel economy for a platoon of lorries improved by about 15 percent. Expand that out to the thousands of trucks that are on UK roads at any one time and you're looking at potentially huge cost reductions.

Beyond fuel savings, HGV platoons could also reduce congestion and delivery times. For now, during testing, there will at least be a human driver in the lead lorry—but in the future, the convoy could be completely automated, running 24/7 and only stopping to refuel.

Convoys of 10 trucks could cause difficulties for other drivers trying to enter and exit the road, however. For motorway entrances, the convoy would have to move over to the middle lane, so that drivers don't get stuck at the end of the slip road. Likewise, getting off the motorway when there's a convoy of trucks blocking your way could be rather troublesome. The DfT may have chosen the northernmost stretch of the M6 because it's relatively quiet and has few entrances and exits.

The UK won't be the first to test a driverless truck on public roads: Daimler did that back in October, in Germany. It looks like Daimler used a prototype self-driving truck, though, rather than a shiny new Freightliner.

Sebastian Anthony
Sebastian is the editor of Ars Technica UK. He usually writes about low-level hardware, software, and transport, but it is emerging science and the future of technology that really get him excited. Emailsebastian@arstechnica.co.uk//Twitter@mrseb